2024-25 men’s transfer tracker: Where will Andrej Stojakovic end up? Kentucky? North Carolina?

April 25, 2024 admin

Credit to Author: Jeff Borzello| Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 18:51:58 EST

Transfer portal season has become the busiest two months of the college basketball calendar. Entire rosters fall apart and get rebuilt in mere weeks, with some teams needing to go into the portal for 10 or 11 players. Coaching staffs spend two or three years recruiting high school players, and now, they spend two or three weeks — sometimes less — recruiting transfers.

There will be upward of 2,000 players in the portal by the time it closes for all players on May 1. The vast majority will find a new home in a similar timeframe.

It’s a lot to digest.

Just like the coaching carousel tracker, we’re going to have a constantly updated transfer portal tracker this offseason. Find all of the latest intel and buzz on the available players in the portal. School lists, visit plans, target boards — all of the movement will be discussed here.

Keep track of ESPN’s ranking of the top 100 transfers here.

Since the end of the season, Kadary Richmond was being watched around the country as a potential transfer. It finally happened Thursday. He earned first-team All-Big East honors this past season after averaging 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Outlook: Richmond immediately enters the conversation as the best player in the transfer portal. He’s a 6-foot-6 matchup nightmare at the guard position, using his size to consistently finish in the lane over smaller defenders. St. John’s has long been considered a potential landing spot for the Brooklyn native.

Norchad Omier plans to enter the transfer portal, sources told ESPN, immediately becoming arguably the top available player in the portal. The 6-foot-7 forward is a two-time All-ACC selection who averaged 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds this past season. He’s averaged a double-double in each of his four seasons in college.

Outlook: Frontcourt-needy teams will be all over this one. Omier chose Miami over Florida State, Texas Tech and Georgetown back in 2022 but should expect a bigger list now. He will be right at the top of ESPN’s next transfer rankings update with Oumar Ballo, Johnell Davis and AJ Storr.

A year ago, the transfer portal was still humming well past the close of the undergraduate transfer deadline — highlighted by Cam Spencer leaving Rutgers in June to commit to UConn, and Will McNair spending the summer at Providence before reentering the portal and leaving for Kansas State. Those types of transfers will not exist anymore: The NCAA passed legislation last week saying all transfers need to be in the portal by the close of their sports’ transfer window. For college basketball, that’s May 1.

The NCAA confirmed to ESPN that the D1 Board of Directors approved this change on Monday and it’s indeed effective immediately.

Outlook: The new rule, which many coaches and players were unaware of when reached by ESPN on Wednesday, could lead to a flood of players entering the portal before next Wednesday. Those who are on track to graduate will have to enter before they actually complete all their classes, while players in the NBA draft could enter the portal just to keep all their options open.

In the last 36 hours, three of the best point guards on the market announced their commitments. Tyrese Hunter is headed to Memphis, Sean Pedulla committed to Ole Miss and Jordan Pope announced for Texas. The number of available point guards and combo guards is starting to thin out with just a week left for players to portal.

Outlook: Other backcourt players are moving forward with their recruitments. Ole Miss also hosted Oklahoma State transfer Javon Small on a visit and Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney is in the midst of a tour of Creighton, Virginia, UConn and Kentucky. Wisconsin transfer Chucky Hepburn arrived Wednesday night for his official visit to Louisville. Stetson scorer Jalen Blackmon also cut his list Wednesday to Miami, BYU, Northwestern, Cal and Villanova. Utah‘s Deivon Smith, who entered the portal last Friday, has become a hot commodity due to the lack of options.

Things had been quiet surrounding Stanford transfer Andrej Stojakovic, a former McDonald’s All American in the 2023 class. But sources told ESPN on Wednesday that Stojakovic isn’t likely to let his recruitment drag on much longer. He visited Cal last weekend, and Mark Madsen’s program is squarely in the mix. North Carolina, Kentucky and Michigan are all involved, while Creighton, Washington, USC and Louisville are looking to make up ground. He’ll take another visit this weekend, but the destination isn’t finalized.

Outlook: Madsen has been busy in the portal, already adding five players. Stojakovic would be by far the best of the group, and it would also give him a chance to stay closer to home. North Carolina is the favorite to land Belmont transfer Cade Tyson, which would likely take the Tar Heels out of the mix. Kentucky has become increasingly involved and has plenty of shots to offer. Michigan could use another shooter on the wing.

Utah State transfer Great Osobor, a top-five overall transfer and the top uncommitted frontcourt player in the portal, has scheduled four visits. He’ll take a trip to Kentucky next week, immediately followed by Louisville, Texas Tech and Washington. Osobor averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds this season, winning Mountain West Player of the Year honors.

Outlook: Osobor would dramatically improve any of the four schools on his visit tour. Kentucky and Louisville have very few players on their respective rosters, and the Wildcats just landed Drexel transfer Amari Williams, Osobor’s close friend with whom he shares an agent. Danny Sprinkle, Osobor’s coach at Utah State, is now at Washington, while he could be viewed as the missing piece at Texas Tech.

The Horizon League Player of the Year, Oakland forward Trey Townsend is expected to decide this week between Ohio State and Arizona. Townsend averaged 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists this past season, going for 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Kentucky and 30 points and 13 rebounds in the overtime loss to NC State.

Outlook: Jake Diebler has restocked his Ohio State roster since taking over for Chris Holtmann, and Townsend would complement Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw in the paint. Arizona is loaded on the perimeter, even with Kylan Boswell transferring to Illinois, but the Wildcats are in need of a physical frontcourt presence next to Motiejus Krivas.

Since taking over for Juwan Howard in Ann Arbor, May has had to rebuild nearly an entire roster. And it was a slow start, but the squad is now coming together. Over the past three days, the Wolverines have landed ESPN 100 prospect Justin Pippen, Yale transfer Danny Wolf, North Texas transfer Rubin Jones, Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson, Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle Jr. and Alabama transfer Sam Walters.

Outlook: Despite the six additions, Michigan still has only 10 players on the roster — which means more reinforcements are on the way. At the top of the board is Florida Atlantic transfer Vladislav Goldin, who played for May in Boca Raton and has been considered a Michigan lean since he went into the portal.

Dayton transfer Koby Brea announced his final list of schools Monday, and it’s about as strong as one can get: Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, UConn and Kentucky. The 6-foot-6 guard is one of the premier shooters in college basketball, making 49.8% of his 3-point attempts this past season. He averaged 11.1 points off the bench, winning Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year honors.

Outlook: Where will Brea go? Kansas is getting crowded on the perimeter, especially if the Jayhawks land Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen. North Carolina is bringing in two five-star guards and also could regain the services of All-American guard RJ Davis. Duke could use some shooting pop, but the Blue Devils have Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster and a slew of talented freshmen. Is UConn or Kentucky his best landing spot?

It didn’t take long for Baylor to emerge as the favorite for Roach, one of the most experienced and winningest point guards in the portal. Roach has started 108 games over four seasons at Duke, earning third-team All-ACC honors as a senior. He hit career-highs across the board this past season, averaging 14.0 points and 3.3 assists while shooting 42.9% from 3.

Outlook: Baylor will have one of the elite perimeter groups in the country next season. Roach will run the show from day one, but Jayden Nunn and Langston Love are back and Scott Drew is bringing in elite recruit V.J. Edgecombe and top-25 prospect Robert Wright III. The Bears are absolutely loaded in the backcourt – and are in good position with Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo, a top-10 big man.

Amari Williams visited Kentucky this weekend and the Drexel transfer ended his recruitment as the trip was ending. Williams was one of the best defensive players in the portal, winning the CAA Defensive Player of the Year award three times and earning first-team All-CAA honors in each of the last two seasons. He averaged 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds this past season.

Outlook: Kentucky now has three players on its roster, with Williams joining freshmen Travis Perry and Collin Chandler. The Wildcats are firmly in the mix for a long list of transfers – perhaps most notably Utah State big man Great Osobor, who is friends with Williams and shares an agent with him. Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney, Oklahoma State big Brandon Garrison, Stanford wing Andrej Stojakovic and Dayton shooter Koby Brea are among the other players on the target list.

Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle announced his commitment to Indiana. The top-50 recruit in the 2023 class averaged 11.5 points as a freshman, including 31 points against Washington State and 28 against Arizona. The Hoosiers emerged pretty quickly as the favorites to land Carlyle.

Outlook: Indiana has the best portal class so far this spring, with Carlyle following Washington State transfer Myles Rice and Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo to Bloomington. Mike Woodson has now reloaded his team, with the three transfers joining three returning starters — including honorable mention All-Big Ten selection Malik Reneau and former top-10 recruit Mackenzie Mgbako. The Hoosiers badly need to add shooting to the roster, though.

Avila, one of the biggest breakout stars of the 2023-24 season, was always expected to follow his coach from Indiana State to Saint Louis, and he made that official Saturday. Avila was a first-team All-Missouri Valley pick after averaging 17.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting better than 39% from 3-point range.

Outlook: So far, Avila is the only Indiana State starter to join Schertz in the Atlantic 10. Ryan Conwell committed to Xavier, while Julian Larry and Jayson Kent are committed to Texas. Isaiah Swope is visiting Saint Louis, however.

After Dusty May landed his first two players Friday, he got his biggest commitment yet. A 7-foot center, Wolf was a first-team All-Ivy selection who averaged 14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while shooting nearly 35% from 3-point range.

Outlook: Michigan was the perceived favorite for Wolf for a few weeks. Now, the question is how this news impacts the recruitment of Florida Atlantic transfer Vladislav Goldin, who was also likely to follow May from Boca Raton to Ann Arbor. But how will it work with two 7-footers on the roster?.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats got his next point guard. Holloway was a former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American in the 2023 class but struggled to make shots from the floor, shooting 31.8%. He averaged 7.3 points and 2.7 assists.

Outlook: While Holloway’s shooting is a bit of a question mark in a 3-point-heavy system such as Alabama’s, he was a terrific floor general in high school. The Tide have now added three perimeter players in the portal, including Houston Mallette (Pepperdine) and Chris Youngblood (South Florida).

After freshmen TJ Power and Sean Stewart entered the portal in back-to-back days, Jon Scheyer badly needed frontcourt reinforcements. Those came Saturday in the form of Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, who averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 boards on the season — over his final five games, however, he tallied three double-doubles and put up 11.8 points, 9.6 boards and 3.0 assists.

Outlook: Duke is far from done in the portal when it comes to the frontcourt. The Blue Devils are the perceived favorites for Purdue transfer Mason Gillis, who made nearly 47% of his 3-point attempts this past season, and they’re in the mix for Stanford transfer Brandon Angel, a 6-foot-8 forward who shot nearly 45% from behind the arc.

Sean Stewart, a former top-20 recruit, announced he’s entering the transfer portal Friday. Stewart came out of high school with a reputation as an elite rebounder but failed to carve out a consistent role in Durham. He averaged 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 33 games off the bench.

Outlook: Stewart follows Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell, TJ Power, Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves and Jaden Schutt, while Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain left for the NBA and Ryan Young is out of eligibility. Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster are the lone returnees for Jon Scheyer who is, however, bringing in a six-man recruiting class ranked No. 1 in the country.

The 6-foot-8 Kentucky forward has cut his list to five schools, sources told ESPN: Pitt, North Carolina, Arkansas, Indiana and Kentucky. Thiero started 19 games this season for the Wildcats, bringing energy and explosiveness to the frontcourt. He averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Outlook: The projected first-round pick in ESPN’s 2025 mock draft entered the portal before John Calipari left Lexington for Arkansas, so it’s interesting to see the Razorbacks make his final list. And Kentucky fans will be pleased to see a potential return to Lexington is still possible. Pitt has quietly had some buzz for a couple weeks due to Thiero being from the Pittsburgh suburbs.

Williams has cut his list to St. John’s, Kentucky and Mississippi State, his agent told ESPN. The 6-10 big man is one of the best interior defenders in the portal, winning CAA Defensive Player of the Year three times and earning first-team All-CAA honors this past season. He averaged 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds.

Outlook: Williams will take his final visit to Kentucky this weekend, and the Wildcats could badly use an experienced post defender to anchor their frontcourt. They’ve made a strong push in recent days under new coach Mark Pope, but St. John’s remains involved, and Williams would be a good fit at Mississippi State given Chris Jans’ defensive history.

Shortly after AJ Storr committed to Kansas, Wisconsin took another hit: Three-year starter Chucky Hepburn is transferring. Hepburn started 103 games for Greg Gard, averaging 9.2 points and 3.9 assists this past season. He put up 12.2 points and shot 40.5% from 3-point range in 2022-23.

Outlook: Aside from Hepburn’s next destination, the story here is Wisconsin losing another key contributor to the portal. In addition to Storr and Hepburn, the Badgers have also lost Connor Essegian, who saw a diminished role this past season after a delayed start due to injury but averaged 11.7 points as a freshman in 2022-23. Gard hasn’t landed a player from the portal yet — and one of the Badgers’ top targets, Frankie Fidler, was a high school teammate of Hepburn’s.

Storr, the No. 3 player in ESPN’s transfer rankings, committed on Thursday. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection after averaging 16.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in leading Wisconsin to the conference tournament title game and a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament.

Outlook: Bill Self has added some much-needed playmaking and shot-making — a major concern for the Jayhawks during the 2023-24 campaign. Storr is the third perimeter addition, following South Dakota State’s Zeke Mayo, the Summit League Player of the Year, and Florida’s Riley Kugel, a mercurial but talented wing with NBA potential. The Jayhawks are also still in the mix for Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen.

The Huskies clearly needed a big man this cycle in the portal, and they landed Michigan Wolverines transfer Tarris Reed Jr. on Wednesday. Reed visited Storrs this past weekend and ended his recruitment shortly after leaving. He’s a former ESPN 100 prospect who averaged 9.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks this past season.

Outlook: Dan Hurley essentially needs to rebuild the starting lineup that won the Huskies their second consecutive national title. Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer are out of eligibility, while Stephon Castle and Clingan could be NBA draft lottery picks. UConn is targeting a big man and at least one perimeter player. With Reed now in the fold, Hurley can turn toward guards and wings.

God got me…I ain’t stressin 😮‍💨 #Committed pic.twitter.com/dwrbVsOFGz

A big-name point guard just went on the market. Duke senior Jeremy Roach announced Tuesday he plans to enter the transfer portal and the NBA draft, which suddenly makes available one of the best and most experienced point guards in the country.

Outlook: Roach started 108 games over four seasons with the Blue Devils, earning third-team All-ACC honors this past season. He averaged career-highs across the board, putting up 14.0 points, 3.3 assists and shooting 42.9% from 3-point range. This move has been speculated for several weeks, with a long list of schools linked as potential landing spots: Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, Arkansas, Baylor, Ole Miss and more.

After initially setting multiple visits, the Arizona transfer didn’t even get off Indiana’s campus before ending his recruitment and telling ESPN he’s committing to the Hoosiers. A two-time first-team All-Pac-12 selection, the No. 1 transfer has been one of the dominant big men in the country under Tommy Lloyd. He averaged 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds this season.

Outlook: How Mike Woodson uses Malik Reneau and Ballo together will be interesting, given both players prefer to operate around the basket. It’s also worth taking a quick look at where the other programs in pursuit of Ballo will turn. North Carolina could look at Danny Wolf and Jonas Aidoo, while Louisville is battling Kentucky for Aly Khalifa. Arkansas just landed Zvonimir Ivisic.

Townsend, who helped lead Oakland to a first-round NCAA tournament win over Kentucky with 17 points and 12 rebounds, has set the rest of his visit schedule, according to his agent George Langberg of GSL Sports Group. Townsend is currently on campus at Arizona, then will visit Ohio State on Thursday and Friday and finish up with a trip to Louisville this weekend. He also recently visited Michigan.

Outlook: Townsend is one of the most productive mid-major transfers in the portal. He averaged 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds this season and was able to perform at a high level in big games. The 6-foot-6 power forward went for 28 points against Xavier, 19 points and 10 rebounds against Illinois, 30 points and 13 rebounds against NC State and also had 38 points in the Horizon tournament title game.

Kentucky transfer Zvonimir Ivisic announced Monday he’s committing to Arkansas, following John Calipari to the Razorbacks. Ivisic is the first player to officially follow Calipari to Fayetteville, but he likely won’t be the last.

Outlook: Ivisic, a 7-foot-2 center from Croatia, has an incredibly high ceiling due to his offensive skill set. He can make shots from the perimeter, run the floor and is an adept shot-blocker at the other end. He had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals in 16 minutes off the bench in his first college game against Georgia, and averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15 games as a freshman.

After a weekend that saw Rodney Terry land three players from the portal — Indiana State exports Julian Larry and Jayson Kent, and Arkansas transfer Tramon Mark — Monday brought the fallout. Tyrese Hunter and Dillon Mitchell, two Texas starters, are planning to enter the transfer portal.

Outlook: Hunter has started 106 games in three college seasons at Texas and Iowa State and had the best offensive season of his career in 2023-24, putting up 11.1 points and 4.1 assists. Mitchell, meanwhile, is a versatile frontcourt player who took major strides as a sophomore, averaging 9.6 points and 7.5 rebounds. The news comes on the heels of top-50 recruit Cam Scott requesting a release from his letter of intent to Texas to reopen his recruitment.

Wagner, a former top-five recruit, was a household name in the high school ranks who originally chose Kentucky over Louisville after an intense recruiting process between the two schools. But the 6-foot-4 New Jersey native had an uneven freshman season: putting up big numbers during the first half then finishing with single-digit scoring output in 10 of his final 13 games. Averaged 9.9 points and 3.3 assists.

Outlook: It’s unclear where Wagner will look to continue his college career. He still has NBA hype, projected as a second-round pick if he opted to enter this year’s draft. He could follow former Kentucky coach John Calipari to Arkansas but he’s expected to have an open recruitment. Despite his up-and-down freshman campaign, he’s one of the most dynamic guards in the portal.

The former top-10 recruit had a delayed start to his Kentucky career due to a foot injury suffered last spring, but eventually made an impact once on the floor 00 including a double-double against Penn in his second game. Didn’t have a consistent role down the stretch of the season though, barely playing in the SEC and NCAA tournaments. Averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds.

Outlook: Despite the middling numbers, Bradshaw’s ceiling makes him an intriguing addition for new head coach Jake Diebler. He can run the floor, he has some skill with the ball in his hands and he can finish around the rim and block shots. What does this mean for the other teams in the mix for Bradshaw? North Carolina was hoping to get him on campus and now the Tar Heels might have to turn to Yale transfer Danny Wolf.

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Mike Woodson is wasting no time rebuilding his roster after a down year in Bloomington. The Hoosiers already landed Washington State‘s Myles Rice, one of the best point guards in the portal.

Outlook: They’re also expected to host Stanford‘s Kanaan Carlyle for a visit this week. Carlyle is a former top-50 recruit capable of explosive performances. Neither Rice nor Carlyle is a knockdown shooter, but Indiana is also pursuing Connor Hickman (Bradley) and Ryan Conwell (Indiana State) to fill that role. Up front, the top target is No. 1 overall transfer Oumar Ballo. The Arizona big man is expected to visit Bloomington this week, and Indiana is thought to be in a pretty good spot. Should Ballo leave his visit without committing, the Hoosiers could turn to Drexel‘s Amari Williams, who also visits later in the week. Ballo is the far superior offensive player, but Williams is a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

Take a look at the numbers behind Michigan’s hire of former Florida Atlantic basketball coach Dusty May.

May didn’t have a completely empty cupboard in Ann Arbor when he took over for Juwan Howard, and George Washington III added to the returnees when he opted to remove his name from the transfer portal and stay at Michigan. But the former Florida Atlantic coach is looking to build a competitive roster in year one, and he’s taking some big swings in the portal.

Outlook: At the top of the target list: two of his former FAU players in Johnell Davis — arguably the top perimeter player in the portal — and center Vladislav Goldin. Houston was also pursuing Davis, but the Cougars landed Milos Uzan over the weekend; is Kelvin Sampson’s program still in play? Michigan is also in the mix for Yale‘s Danny Wolf, a first-team All-Ivy selection this past season. While the Wolverines are likely the leader for both Goldin and Wolf as things stand, the first 7-foot center to commit might send the other elsewhere — or perhaps they battle it out once they get to campus. Oakland‘s Trey Townsend, who posted dominant numbers against high-major competition this past season, was set to visit Ann Arbor on Sunday, too. On the perimeter, Michigan is perceived as the leader for Auburn‘s transfer Tre Donaldson. Ohio State‘s Roddy Gayle Jr. is expected to visit Ann Arbor soon, too. Keep an eye on another Auburn transfer, Aden Holloway. His sister, Mila Holloway, is signed to play basketball at Michigan next season.

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It’s clear that Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels want a true 5-man from the portal this spring. Armando Bacot has used up his eligibility, James Okonkwo barely played and already hit the portal, and Jalen Washington is the lone option remaining for that position.

Outlook: Former top-10 prospect Aaron Bradshaw was expected to visit Ohio State this past weekend, but UNC is heavily in the mix and has him near or at the top of the target list.The Tar Heels are also battling a handful of schools for Oumar Ballo. Will Ballo get through his visits to Indiana, Louisville and Kansas State, though? Rutgers‘ Clifford Omoruyi, one of the best defensive players in the country, has had communication with North Carolina, as has the aforementioned Danny Wolf. Could the Tar Heels make a run at Tennessee‘s Jonas Aidoo, too? Aidoo, who entered the portal late last week, is a Durham native.

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